This invention relates to a circuit breaker. More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a circuit breaker which offers enhanced current-limiting performance and interrupting performance during the tripping of the breaker.
In prior-art circuit breakers, it has been common practice to shift the arc into an arc extinguisher or to raise the separating speed of the contacts in order to quickly extinguish an electric arc struck across the gap between a pair of contacts during the interrupting operation. Such circuit breakers, however, have has the disadvantage that the foot of the arc struck across the gap between the contacts expands to fall onto the contactor conductors on which the contacts are mounted, with the result that the arc voltage, which relates to the extinction of the arc, lowers.